Villa Mirador is the bottom of a duplex, situated close to the resort of La Pineda but in a quiet residential area. Despite it being in "Mirador de Salou" it is not in Salou at all, but on the hillside behind the smaller resort of La Pineda. The villa is an older, more traditional property rather than a modern villa. Villa Mirador is situated on a hillside and is not overlooked at all, with views over wooded areas to the front and side and a view down to the seaside resort of La Pineda. The property has an open living / seating area, with high ceilings and seating for 6 adults. A dining room and 2 bedrooms are situated on a mezzanine floor. The bathroom contains a bath with overbath shower. Another bedroom, with kingsize bed is situated off the living area in the basement area and is accessed through a very low doorway. This bedroom has the benefit of a shower room.

The outside space includes a small private pool, a couple of fruit trees and terrace areas for sunbathing. The barbecue and outside table and chairs mean it's great for eating outside on hot summer evenings.

If you are family looking to visit the beach and PortAventura (but not stay right in the centre of the resort) or you want a golfing holiday Villa Mirador is ideal. It's also a great base for those wishing to get out an explore and see some of the historic and traditional sites in the area.

Although in a quiet residential area, shops, restaurants and bars and the beach are all within walking distance (20 - 25 minutes). A car is not necessary, though most people prefer to have one to avoid the walk up the hill, particularly when it is hot or there is a lot of shopping to carry. There are good public transport links from the sea front to PortAventura, Salou, Cambrils and Tarragona and Barcelona.

In 2007 Villa Mirador was upgraded with a new kitchen, the installation of mains gas and central heating, and an additional bathroom en-suite to the bedroom downstairs. In 2008, new furniture was purchased for the bedroom downstairs. The bed can either be made up as one kingsize bed or as two singles.

Unfortunately, Villa Mirador is not suitable for people who cannot manage stairs.

Further details outdoors

There is parking on the quiet road outside the property. As the property is built into the hillside, there is a sun terrace at road level with steps leading down to the barbecue area and the pool. There are stairs in the garden area so please be careful. Sun loungers and beach towels are provided.

There are three terraces for sun bathing, to the front and the side of the house. There is also a seating area and a large barbecue and sink.

If you like fresh lemons for your drinks they regularly fall off the tree in the garden.

Further details

The swimming pool is available all year round but it is generally only warm enough to swim between May and September.

Villa Mirador is the bottom half of a duplex. This means that there is another property on top. Despite this, the garden and pool are very private and not overlooked.

About this location

The Catalunia region

La Pineda is a great place to use as a base for exploring the Costa Dorada. The Costa Dorada is in the autonomous region of Catalunya in the North East of Spain. The official languages are Catalan and Spanish. A lot of sign posts, menus, information, place names etc. will appear in both languages. English is not widely spoken but the tourist areas of Salou and La Pineda are geared towards English and other tourists.....and of course the PortAventura themepark is practically on the doorstep.

The region is beautiful. Costa Dorada (or Costa Daurada in Catalan) literally translates as "golden coast" and when you look at the beaches it is easy to see why.

As well as the coastal areas, the city of Tarragona, about 5 minutes away, is a world heritage site and contains a number of well preserved Roman ruins as well as an interesting old town, imposing cathedral and lots of shops, bars and retaurants. If you head inland, there are many typically spanish towns and villages to wander around. Reus is also worth a trip.

The most famous place in Catalunya is its capital, Barcelona, which is just 1 hour away by train. Here there are loads of places of interest including museums, art galleries, tourist buses, shops, the famous "Las Ramblas", Gaudi architecture, football stadiums, a port complex and IMAX cinema and much, much more.

In the other direction, around 2 hours away, is the city of Valencia. There is a fantastic Science and Arts centre there. In 2007 Valencia is hosting the Americas Cup sailing and every March is the famous fiesta of Las Fallas.

Peñíscola, close to Valencia is a gorgeous seaside town with a fortified castle and wonderful narrow streets filled with restaurants, bars and shops. It is well worth a visit and is about 1 to 1 1/2 hours away.

Also in the region are the coastal wetlands of the Sequia Major.

The coast is much greener than southern areas of Spain. The downside is that it sometimes rains! This is not somewhere to visit for "winter sun" but the weather, particularly in summer is hotter than the UK. Generally during the winter the climate is warmer than the UK but can be cold at night. The Spring and Autumn usually have some lovely warm weather and the summer is, as you would expect, mostly hot.

The region advertsises itself as having 360 days of sunshine each year.

La Pineda

La Pineda is primarily a modern tourist resort but is much quieter and much more family oriented than its neighbour, Salou. The resort itself is modern with a number of apartment blocks, but it is part of the municipality of Vila-Seca, which has some lovely old buildings and squares. Villa Mirador is situated on a residential street behind La Pineda, up a hill known as Mirador de Salou (literally viewpoint of Salou). It is surrounded by green areas.

La Pineda is a quiet resort with a long, golden beach and caters to both english and spanish tourists. Although much quieter and smaller than Salou, it does get busy in July and August. The resort is an easy 20 - 25 minute walk from the house, although there is a bit of a hill on the way back. The road is well lit. There are no buses that stop near Villa Mirador but in summer you will find taxis at the ranks in La Pineda and you can phone one at any time.

There are no shops or bars in the immediate vicinity of the house, but there are supermarkets and gift shops along the sea front together with a number of bars and restaurants, which are all within walking distance. Most of the shops are open all through winter, some on Sundays but a lot of the waterfront bars are closed. One that is open though is the excellent Pantastic which features a cafe and breadshop on one side of the road and tapas and drinks on the other. There are also cash machines on the sea front.

There is a water park, Aquopolis, on the sea front that has a very good reputation. It is open between May and October.

You will find other bars and restaurants down many of the side streets too. Some are English, some more likely to be frequented by locals, but all likely to give you a warm welcome, particularly outside of the summer months. Near Aquoplolis there are a number of noisier bars which do a roaring trade in summer, probably due to their proximity to Pacha, the famous nightclub. In winter they are closed. But elsewhere the atmosphere is a lot more relaxed and family friendly.

Carnival takes place in La Pineda towards the end of February.

If you want more late nights and lots of English bars and food then Salou is just 10 minutes way by bus or taxi. If you want to experience a more typically spanish holiday resort then head to the fishing village of Cambrils.

There are 4 golf courses within an easy drive. In addition, PortAventura have recently completed work on 3 golf courses which opened in June 2008. 2 of these are in the area immediately around the house and the club house is within walking distance - as well as being able to arrange a game of golf, you should be able to use the club house for a drink or a meal. Greg Norman has been involved in the design of 2 of the PortAventura golf courses.

The north golf course will be a par 70, 18 hole course and green fees are expected to be around 80 euros in high season and 60 euros in low season.

The centre golf course will be a 9 hole course with green fees of 42 euros in high season and 30 euros in low season.

The south golf course will be a par 72, 18 hole golf course with prices of around 75 and 55 euros.

The theme park, Port Aventura, is just 5 minutes away by car and at the bottom of the hill in La Pineda is Aquopolis Water Park and Dolphinarium. During the summer there are plenty of entertainments and activities on the beach and at the sea front. There are good bars and restaurants, a mixture of those frequented by locals and people wanting a more authentic experience and those catering specifically for tourists. In both Salou and La Pineda many of the tourist bars and restaurants are closed during the winter - but you will always find somewhere to eat and drink.

Heading South along the coast you first come to the resort of Salou which is geared very much towards tourists with plenty of activities, a beautiful beach and late night bars and entertainment.

The next place down the coast is the fishing town of Cambrils where you can still watch the catch of the day being brought in. Cambrils is a beautiful coastal town with a working harbour and is famous for its seafood restaurants. It is a wonderful place to sit and drink or to walk around the maze of shopping streets.

Heading north up the coast you reach the city of Tarragona. It is less than 10 minutes away by car or bus and has 2 main parts. The modern city is home to great shopping, businesses, hotels and offices and also contains the wide Rambla Nova which is the ideal place for a stroll or a drink or tapa in one of the street cafes. The old part of town is full of yellow stone buildings, an imposing cathedral, the remains of the city walls, narrow winding streets and interesting shops and bars. This is also where you will find most of the Roman ruins, including the ampitheatre, though they are dotted all over the city.

Further north still is Barcelona, and in between you will find lovely beaches, coves and typically spanish towns and villages.

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"Great Location"

We stayed here for a week with our two children, We had a grea time, Villa Mirador is situated in a fantastic location, far enough away from the main street to feel secluded. We really enjoyed our stay here and thought the villa was very well equiped with things you may need. Port Aventura is literally 5 minutes drive away, great after a long exciting day on all the rides and with children in tow too, The 10 minute drive from the aiport is also great as there is no rushing about and after a flight you really dont want to have to drive another hour to your accommodation, We loved the location so much we are considering buying property there, we would book this villa again without hesitation.

7 Aug 2012

2/5

"When is a Villa NOT a Villa"

Although this house is described as a villa I would be more inclined to call it an apartment on the lower floor all be it with a pool. This is a building which is a block of four. The upper two apartments are at the road level and enjoy the view of the Tarragona industrial area and the lower two have pools.

We had a very good holiday due to the attraction of the pool for the kids but found the accommodation a disappointment. As there was only 4 in our party I am so glad this was the case as I would have hated to have to put someone in the bedroom with the low door. I would think more along the lines of a dungeon instead of a room.The air conditioning was not working well when we got there. When I did fix the remote (bought batteries and put some tape round it) the unit had little effect on the bedrooms as heat rises and bedrooms are at the higher level. The kids bedroom had no windows and I would say the lack of natural light does not help the feeling of the accommodation.When we where there the hydro bath was also out of action.On our return I pointed out to the owner that the noise from the apartment above with dragging chairs across the tiled floor was annoying and that we had 8 lads next door who partied hard as I was looking for a quiet holiday in a Villa that I was told should be the case only to find out I am the first in seven years to point this out?My biggest concern of this accommodation is the fact that the few windows that there are they all have bars and the only exit is the main door. There is a gas pipe that runs down the side of the building that is exposed to over hanging branches in the scrub land next to the accommodation. With such dry conditions if a fire was to catch alight and a lit branch was to come down on the gas pipe I would doubt if anyone would survive. Very dangerous and in the UK I am sure building control would not allow such an example of this fire hazard.We had to chase the owner for nearly everything to do with the holiday including getting the security deposit.

I am sorry that you did not enjoy the accommodation. The advert states that the property is built into the hillside and that there is a bedroom in the basement and the rental agreement explains in more detail about the accommodation. I make a point of highlighting things that some people may regard as negative – such as the fact that there are stairs, that it is a 20 minute walk to the nearest shops and that because the house is built into the hillside some rooms have no external windows. I do this before the deposit is paid because I want people to know exactly what to expect. I know that holidays are precious and the last thing I want is for someone to be disappointed because they were expecting something different.

At the time you visited the property, the region was experiencing unusually high temperatures, about 10° higher than the average temperatures for that time of year. There is only one air conditioning unit and it struggled to cool the entire house but there are fans in 2 of the rooms as well. I know that the downstairs room is quite dark, but the advantage of this room is that because it is at basement level it is actually the coolest part of the house and most people comment that it is very comfortable to sleep in precisely because it is darker and cooler and has an en-suite shower room.

I am very sorry that you had to put up with excessive noise from next door. The house is in a residential area on what is usually a very quiet street with very little traffic. The houses are generally weekend or holiday homes or occupied by local families. Before last summer neither next door nor the property above had ever been rented out. I had no idea that you would have 8 people staying next door rather than the owner who lives alone in the property. I have no control or involvement over any of the other properties.

The windows do all have bars on them. This is clear from the photos and is a very common feature on Spanish properties. They are also a necessary security feature for a holiday home.

I would like to reassure all visitors that the gas system, pipework, boiler and central heating were all installed by Gas Natural, a large national gas company (the Spanish equivalent of British Gas). When I bought the house, like many properties in Spain, gas was provided to the boiler and the cooker using bottled gas. Gas Natural later introduced mains gas to my street and wrote to all house holders asking if they would like to be connected to the mains supply. They carried out the work to connect the houses to the mains pipe. The system is of course subject to regular periodic checks. The installation has recently passed another periodic maintenance inspection and the boiler has been serviced.

The security deposit was returned to you within the 10 day period specified in the rental agreement. I'm sorry that you feel you had to chase me. Whilst you did have to remind me to send you the guest information, you did receive it well in advance of your holiday and I felt that I had answered the many questions you had before your holiday both promptly and fully.

1 Nov 2011

4/5

"Beautiful House&Place w/good facilites-perfect for Portaventura"

Me and my family went there as part of a family holiday, 2 adults (well, 3), 2 teenage boys and a girl. Villa Mirador was a beautiful house with excellent facilities, including a barbeque and (limited) sky tv. There was also a pool and a various selection of books if you were there for a long stay. The beds were v. comfortable and the lads were v,happy with the pool!! We stayed here when going to Portaventura and it was perfect for it. The owner was very quick to respond to our late application and we'd it sorted in a day! The only thing I would say is its not near much except Portaventura. If you wanted a quiet holiday of reading & sun & comfort, or Portaventura I would recommend it!!- Eiresunlover

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